Your Coolest Edition to a Quilt

"Cora Bell" is done!!  Thank you to one of our blog commentator's for the name: it fits perfectly!

During the completion process, I added some yarn from a scarf project my daughter started a few years ago during a "knitting phase" plus about 18" of beaded trim used when I made curtains about 8 years ago.  Saving odd ball tidbits of colorful things that "could be used some day" is all part of owning a crafting horde.  I can't wait to find a use for the heavy, glass beads I bought in bulk at one of the craft super stores on a whim!!

What's in your crafting / sewing stash which is fun that you've used in a project?  Was it unexpected and unique?  Tell us about it!

One UFO Completed!

Sponsoring the UFO Challenge with Quilting Gallery has given me the umph to finish up some projects.   Although I have a beautiful shop and plenty of space there to create, there's something about sewing at the dining room table, in the house, cat nearby, tea cup full, and stereo playing: I really prefer it to sewing in the shop.   Here's the catch: I have very little space there to store quilting paraphernalia in the house.  If I want to start a new project there, I have to clear out other projects first.

In order to make room for the Hawaiian applique quilt blocks, I pulled out this project I started in April of 2011.  My friend, Carol Britt, of Batiks Etc. gave me the pattern as a gift and I immediately feel in love with it.  She designed the pattern, the really cool technique for creating the blocks AND (I love this part) it is a quilt-as-you-go project!  What is NOT to like??? Here's the link to her shop and the patterns.

Anyway, it took 1.5 cups of coffee and about an hour for me to FINALLY finish up piecing this table runner this morning.  Max, my kitty, helped which is why it took an hour verses 30 minutes....

 

If it only took an hour to finish up, why did it take over 8 months for me to pick it up and finish?  That's a topic for another day...  Thank goodness for Quilting Is Murder and Quilting Gallery's UFO Quilt Challenge, though: who knows when we'd have this lovely table runner on the dining room table???!!!

Ellie Update

Since I can't do just ONE project at a time, here's some pictures of Ellie.  I'm almost done beading and have to return to doing the little zig-zag stitches around her pieces.  For whatever reason, I can only do those little zig-zag stitches for a bit them my machine decides it has had enough and starts goofing up the bobbin thread.  Oh well: I just turn back to the beading!!

I added close-ups of her feet and eye.  My camera isn't very good ~ I'm wondering if my iPhone takes better pictures...  You get the idea, though.  She is certainly getting lovely!! 

Her ears are just not zippy enough: the beads are not showing up enough.  The next update may show more there!!

Now where to hang her when done....

To Add the Yarn or not: That is the Question

Here's a picture of the yarn I'm considering attaching around the border of the quilt.  It is just draped here.  I love how it is fuzzy, colorful and not too "big".  What do you think?  Add it to the border or not?  Maybe just add it as a fringe to the bottom? 

Ideas and thoughts?  I'll pull out the beads in the next posting ......

My New Years Project - the Cow

First - this project is "in Process" - heck, I don't even have a name for it other than "Cow"!!

This year, I started something I'd wanted to start for years: a project that involves taking a paper  picture and creating my own fabric picture.  This is about 21" square and not done yet.  There will be beads and maybe fuzzy, fun yarn.....

What I've learned so far:

Lesson #1: Contrasting thread is your friend. I found my sun and flowers do not show up at all: I was worried if I used darker threads, they'd over power the cow. NOT!!

Lesson #2: Just start and do it. I must have sat there 15 minutes before I started the flowers on the bottom. Then, I sat there another 15 minutes, frozen, before I started the sun. Grab the project, hit the pedal and GO!!

Lesson #3: Beads rule. I can't wait to start adding beads. Blue beads for the "sky" and green for the "grass".

Should I add decorative yarn to the outer border? Let me know!

Have you started anything - tell us about it.

Happy New Year!!

In our final Holiday Cheer installment, we'll display the best of the best, IMHO, from the Houston Quilt Show, West Coast Wonders.  Thanks and enjoy!!

Wave Rider by Monika Scola

Summer Dreams by Mary A. Tabar



Elf Owl by Terry Waldron

 My absolute favorite is "Elf Owl".  The whimsical aspect makes me smile each time I look at that cute little owl!  I love how the sky is a patterned blue ~ I never would have considered using fabric like that.  What makes viewing really spectacular quilts neat, to me, is the "Oh wow - I'd never have thought to do that" factor.

Which were your favorite quilts and did you see any in our series that made you think "Hey, I never thought of THAT."  Please share!

Happy New Year a bit Early!

And a few calorie-less treats for you.  Drink up these images and enjoy the smiles they bring to you!

Roadside Poppies by Denise Oyama Miller

Tsunami Rattles California by Ann C. Sanderson

Deception Pass by MonikaScola